There really isn’t anything I could write which hasn’t already been said about Muhammad Ali, indeed Ali is arguably the most written about sports person in history. 3rd June marks a year since the passing of a sporting legend and a global superstar. I’m going to keep this article pretty short, because of my previous comment, what could I possibly write that you haven’t already heard? All I can add is my recollection of last year, waking up early in the night to check on my phone what the latest news was having heard earlier in the day Ali was in hospital, relief there was no breaking news. Then just before I was due to wake up at 5:30am for my Saturday morning session with Spencer Oliver, I checked my phone again and this time the news was confirmed, Ali had passed away.

So I got up for my training and donned my Muhammad Ali t-shirt, drove to the gym to train with Spencer, whose phone was constantly ringing from various news outlets trying to get his views on Muhammad Ali’s death. Spencer would end up returning the call from the BBC from my trusty Blackberry phone. Don Charles, the owner of the gym and also the trainer to various professional Boxers such as Heavyweight Dereck Chisora would soon enter as the talk centered around their memories of Muhammad Ali(Don Charles would also later appear on the BBC to give his views on Ali).

After finishing with my own clients, the rest of the day was spent watching the news, including Spencer Oliver’s own interview with Sky Sports News and a lot of documentaries and interviews, both on the BBC and CNN as well as other news channels covering Ali’s passing.

One year on and Ali’s name is still as strong as it ever was, Muhammad Ali may not have been the greatest Boxer ever, but he was undoubtedly the greatest ever sportsman and bigger than the sport of Boxing. The old saying is Legends never die, and in Ali’s case that is especially true. In my opinion, the sporting world will never ever see the likes of Ali again, the Heavyweight Champion of the world is arguably the biggest sporting figure in the world, if he happens to be a great Boxer as Ali was, then it is without question they are the biggest sporting figure in the world, Muhammad Ali’s face was recognised in every corner of the globe and when you add the charisma of Ali, his talent, the times he lived in and what he did and stood for, then it is exceedingly hard for another person to ever compare to what Ali was able to accomplish in his life.

To finish off this article I am going to include some of my favourite Muhammad Ali videos from YouTube and also the interview Spencer Oliver gave to Sky Sports News just a few hours after our training session – enjoy!